Fighting Off Commoditization

I always ask new clients "what makes you different." And, after they answer, I ask "no, really?"

When it comes to marketing strategies, if yours is not different than it is not strategic. It has been my experience that most large consumer brand marketers get so close to their brands and business that they lose perspective. They fail to see themselves as others do. It reminds me of the movie "Dead Poets Society" when Robin Williams asks his students to stand on their desks - he says "I stand upon my desk to remind myself that we must constantly look at things in a different way."

I believe the primary method for companies to fight off commoditization is to take a deeper look at consumer behavior and innovate around that - as opposed to putting on the blinders and trying to innovate around constantly developing new products and services. After all, brands cannot change consumer behavior until they truly understand it.

Part of the problem is that all too often we marketers focus on busy work and media plans and deadlines - we take zero time to step away from the laptop, the phone, the Facebook and Twitter pagers to just THINK. Remember thinking?

In summary, the first step to fighting off commoditization is to take the time to think and look at your brand from a new perspective - in other words, stand on your desk.